Colts Have Lengthy Injury Report, But Things Don’t Look So Bad

Just two weeks ago, the Indianapolis Colts headed to Arrowhead Stadium to face off with the Kansas City Chiefs and ended up handily defeating them 23-7. Now, the Chiefs are paying a visit up north and the Colts realize that things won’t be as easy this time around.

On paper, things don’t look so great with a Colts injury report, which is extremely long and has a lot of talented names listed on it. The good news is that how things look on paper can be rather deceiving. Most of the injuries are not too serious and shouldn’t bring about any major causes for concern.

Right now, the biggest problem for the Colts lies on defense, and especially in the secondary.

Cornerbacks Darius Butler (quad), Vontae Davis (groin), and Greg Toler (ankle) along with safety Sergio Brown (groin) are all listed as probable and will play as needed, but they aren’t at 100 percent. The scary part is that both Toler and Davis are starters while Brown and Butler are immediate backups.

On the defensive line, all three starters are listed on the injury report.

Nose tackle Aubrayo Franklin is listed as questionable with a knee injury. Defensive ends Cory Redding (shoulder) and Ricky Jean Francois (foot) are listed as probable. While Francois is a little more banged up than the others, all three players know how important this weekend’s game is and they’ll be ready to play.

Reserve defensive end Fili Moala is also listed as questionable with a knee injury. He usually backs up Franoics, but if he isn’t ready to go, Jeris Pendleton or Ricardo Mathews could step up to the task as needed.

Making matters the slightest bit worse on defense is that starting outside linebacker Robert Mathis is listed as probable, but for no other reason than he needed some rest. Mathis is healthy and ready go against the Chargers.

Backup linebacker Bjoern Werner is also listed on the injury report with an ankle problem, but he practiced in full all week.

The only Colts player that didn’t practice at all was Moala. Franklin missed Wednesday’s practice, but was a full-go on the final two days of the week. Wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey has a tweaked hamstring, but he was only limited on Wednesday and then fully practicing on Thursday and Friday.

While the Colts injury report may be long and look a tad menacing, it really isn’t that bad. Most players are just dealing with minor problems and they know this is a playoff game, so they’ll play through just about anything unless it is far too serious and team doctors don’t clear them.

Danny Cox knows a little something about the NFL, whether it means letting you know what penalty will come from the flag just thrown on the field or quickly spouting off who the Chicago Bears drafted in the first round of the 1987 draft (Jim Harbaugh). He plans on bringing you the best news, previews, recaps, and anything else that may come along with the exciting world of the National Football League. Danny is a freelance writer covering all things NFL. His work can be found on Examiner.com.